#Frail Autumn,, #GarageBand,, #Health Matters, #Lyrics, #music, #songwriting

Therapy. And so the Story Goes, Where in the World and Pink Hearts.

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Five minute Doodle Art. Using Watercolour Pencils (Seawhite of Brighton).
One type of Therapy. Catch a Falling Star and use the energy to create some magical backward spells.

This blog is about bringing some little periods of self therapeutic need. Therapy can be found in music, gardening, fountain pen script, doodling and generally seeking time out from the crazy World we live in.

All the little songs below are written and played by myself, Gray Summers.

It was intentional to add a whole load of echo to this song below. Basically, the idea was to grab this opportunity quickly and give myself an instant therapeutic shot of sound vibe. When you feel low in mood, a guitar can be really helpful. It’s so good to be able to switch on the Mac computer, open GarageBand, simply open a ‘New File’, pull the microphone in front of your face and guitar, strum a starting up exercise of a very simple strum and melody to yourself to bring calm. This one below is a very short song that I wrote years ago. Way back then, it was for an intentional ‘pinned’ WordPress introducer on a ‘header page’. Of course, it never happened. One day maybe. But it served a purpose here in bringing a bit of calm. It was nice singing ad hoc harmonies to my own voice. Not great keeping in tune wise …..but fun.

And so the story goes. Enjoyed this little vibe. Rather Mindful for Therapeutic calm.

After this little foray, it was nice to open another ‘New File’ and get some newer ideas down. These naive captures are really good for thinking on. You play them back a few times and begin to hear extras that can maybe be future added. Here below? It was a case of continued therapy. Just adding bits and bobs on top as ‘feelers’.

This whole ‘therapy’ session was a very weird experience. The need to just get some type of release meant a very subdued, even non existent, energy was involved. A ‘really don’t mind the stuttering outcomes’ situation. Just sit in a bubble and watch catch whatever felt could heal a maudlin nature. Energy is currently sleeping soundly deep in the mind.

The tracks opened up for capturing initial ideas for ‘Where in the World’ and ‘Pink Hearts’.

So, as said, a little bit encouraged, you instantly get back on your guitar and record a bit more music. Here below? As the microphone was already set up and already in place was the ‘echo guitar’ choice from the library list. Sing and play guitar and capture. Open up a track for keyboards and choose the ‘Blips Piano’ and the ‘Taiko Drums’ choice to gently experiment some little background beats and a bit of melody. Play both on the AKAI MIDI keyboards. Single finger notes as usual as I can’t play piano properly. Strange hitting little drum beats on a keyboard too. Should have used my djembe really. One finger piano? Bit like my typewriter/typing skills. Next up, open another track and choose an ‘audio for voice’ recording, and use the microphone for a bit of harmony singing. And that’s it really.

Why in the World quick type. How to proceed lyrically.
Where in the World and Pink Hearts. Naive sound out beginnings.

Other Therapy over the last few days? Doing some Grandparent duty on Wednesday. So my Grandson was with me all day. So we listened to some vinyl, eclectically. Also, he used the Olivetti Lettera 35 to continue writing his ‘novel’. Some cheap watercolour paint was taken from tubes and put into half pans for the pallette. Afterwards. A bit of gardening planting up cucumbers, french beans and peas.

‘Hello Tree’. ‘Hello weed’. ‘I’m not a weed……I am a Plantain!’
Always believe in your true self.

THOUGHTS? The little Plantain did say ‘Tree’. Plantain is young. Has just popped his head up through the Earth. He knows no tree species yet. Tree could have said. ‘Thank you. I am known as Ash, Oak, Beech, etc.. Tree being older and wiser, and therefore knowing such matters, could have then said ‘Hello Plantain. Nice to meet you’. But chose to call the little plant ‘weed’. Why? Through being offended? Or disregard? Or simply so haughty he does not concern himself with minions and doesn’t know various species either? Plantain, it seems, even though very young, knows instantly what to call itself. Who know’s the bigger story! Communication and etiquette balances, at times, on a perilous tightrope.
Ain’t that the truth.
Very much enjoyed these stories.

Oscar Wilde Fairy Stories were awesome. In the 1960s my school class had Alice in Wonderland (both books) read to us by the teacher. Magical Times. Oscar’s stories, on listening here, magical too. They are full of emotional, ethical and moral story telling. I’ll definitely be listening again. Alone. The narrator, Robert Rietty (also spelled as Rietti) is the type of voice that is perfect. He was known as the man with a thousand voices. You can understand why. My grandson has just finished ‘His Dark Materials’ by Philip Pullman on audio books. So I found him Lyra’s Oxford to read. Whilst listening to vinyl, he continued to type his ‘novel’ on the Olivetti Lettera 32 typewriter. He has started Chapter 2.

My first Olivetti Lettera 32 on the left. Found the Olivetti Lettera 35 on the right in a charity/thrift shop. Grand total of £10. Did need a massive clean though to get rid of dust and free up sticking keys. My grandson loves the cream coloured one now.

My own Therapy. Just picking up the guitar and getting some ideas out. I have a fair few songs that I need to bite the bullet and hunker down by finishing off the lyrics, find a suitable rhythmic vibe and get them recorded. Confidence is actually extremely low presently. Actually, it’s low in many areas.

So seeking Therapy is based in experimenting with the simple and naive artistic pursuits. Watercolour painting is a new interest. Currently this is experimenting using a wet on wet technique (wet the paper and apply colour loaded paintbrush). You watch the paint take its own journey across the paper and guide it according to what scenes you want to expand on.

Getting the ideas down is very therapeutic. When you listen back to the ideas and see that they are okay-ish, it gives the soul a bit of sparkle. So you then record properly. Below is a more serious considered song. Stars above the Dunes. Still trying to get at a vocal melody for this though.

Stars above the Dunes. Added a stabbing finger one note melody on keyboards to my guitar playing. Drums are from the GarageBand library.
More punchy. Just my guitars. Nice to write a bass line for a change.

I have noticed many YouTube sites and others that now state that no AI in any way has been used in their uploads. So it seems to be a common intention to include this assurance. So….I never, ever use any AI in any of my projects or uploads. Never will. Hope that makes sense. 😊

Thank you. 🙏🏽 ☯️🕉️

10 thoughts on “Therapy. And so the Story Goes, Where in the World and Pink Hearts.”

  1. it makes sense, Gray…😋lol …

    “seeking time out from the crazy World we live in…” 🥴 a wee bit of a challenging one especially since they say the world is round 🙄🤭…lol..

    happy therapy-ing, Gray … music tops the list for me … listening since i can’t create like you do … 🥴
    all sound great…🤍

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    1. Cheers Destiny. You have your wonderful poetry to go to as well. We are blessed to have something to chase down, vibe catch and then let the words sink into our psyche. Music and narration, especially a chanting type narrative, are wonderful tools for therapy. You should sing gently to your words as they are written down. Give them a little melody from time to time. Then? Go buy a guitar or ukulele 😊. That would show you that ‘Yes. I, Destiny, can indeed create musically!’

      All the best Destiny and Thank you for dropping by. 🙏🏽

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      1. I had forgotten, or more like misplaced my want for a guitar 🙃… lol, you reminded me…maybe i shall try my hand at it ( 🥴).

        thank you, Gray … always great visiting you here…🤍🙏

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      2. That would be a great adventure Destiny. If you do look, remember to think of how you would like to play. Strumming, picking, classical, sound vibe, etc.. This then would be the choice of playing on steel or softer nylon strings. Spanish/Flamenco guitars use the top three strings as nylon. You can get different thickness gauges on strings too. That makes the playing a lot easier for finger tips. Heavier and thicker strings, when holding down chords or picking, can be difficult. Also, high ‘action’ on the guitar fretboard can make it difficult to play. The ‘action’ is the gap between strings and wooden fretboard. You have to hold the strings down tightly on the fretboard and the larger the ‘gap’, the more you can struggle to play. Worth looking on YouTube for how to choose a guitar.

        If you have a friend with a guitar, it is worthwhile asking to try it out. Or look at guitars in a shop and try some. Just avoid pushy sales people! 😊

        Seriously, you would love being able to strum a few chords and take your mind elsewhere. Works for me. If I feel a bit down in mood, a fountain pen and a bit of paper or an acoustic guitar, they always help the emotions.

        Cheers Destiny. Good to have your comments and replies too. 🙏🏽

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      3. I did a little asking around after here…and my brother in law , who happens to be a musician too, advised to get an acoustic guitar from our local pawn shops for starters – the ‘instruments’ lingo is sadly lost on me save a few for the instruments i know personally lol … so i have some learning to do also.. 😬
        but i comfort myself with wanting to play for pleasure lol…

        keeping all this in mind…🤍

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      4. Good advice re: pawn shops. My brother gets great deals on instruments. His Mac M2 was a really good buy. So he has decent recording equipment now too. Cheers Destiny and good luck with your guitar search. 🙏🏽

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    1. Cheers Shep. I was listening to The Tremeloes ‘Silence is Golden’ a few days back. Maybe I got all nostalgic. That single hit the Dansette turntable dozens of times for replay. The BeeGees did a song called ‘My World’ (not the ‘World’ one) which, again, I played over and over. Maybe they are simply there, deep in my synapses, waiting to come out to play. Wish I could sing like that! Loved the T.Rex ‘Get it On’ backing vocals by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (Flo and Eddie) too. I do like smooth ‘ooohs and aaaahs’ melodies as much as interactive lyrical harmonies.

      The XCerts, the band I was in in 1977 for about 3 years used to do double harmonies a lot. Unfortunately we ‘punked’ them up though. We did all our own songs. But The Turtles’ song ‘Outside Chance’ was the only song I wanted as a cover song that had to be played. I loved singing that song. May even do a new version of it.

      Your 🏄‍♂️ under the 💫✨idea with Stars above the Dunes is a great idea. Needs an appropriate vibe melody. Be nice if Steve could play a nice lead guitar toon to it. A harp would sound cool too. I imagine a nice elongated melodic notes style. A hauntingly beautiful Midnight Cowboy vibe.

      Thanks for dropping by Shep. Much appreciated. All the best.

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    1. Thanks cookie. That is a really kind thing to say. It’s great that the gentleness of the songs have been positive for you. I do have a fair few songs with intact melodies. But am struggling with lyrical ideas currently. Not sure when the mind will just shift into that gear. I’ve got a feeling they will arrive soon though. Hope you are settling into your own musical vibes again. Be good to hear how far you have travelled into your journey.

      All the best cookie. ✨💫

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